Push The Limit
by Kitten Rebel
Summary: AU: Ciel is a grim reaper supposed to collect the soul of Sebastian Michaelis in exactly one month. He is caught, however, by the target himself. Will he really strip Sebastian of his life in the end? Or will they find some kind of a compromise?/Yaoi, shotacon, SebaCiel, fluff./
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: **Hey there, this is my second attempt in writing Kuroshitsuji and I hope you'll like it :)_

___**Summary**: Ciel is a grim reaper supposed to collect the soul of Sebastian Michaelis in exactly one month. He is caught, however, by the target himself. Will he really strip Sebastian of his life in the end? Or will they find some kind of a compromise?_

___**Warnings**: There will be **yaoi** in later chapters (meaning boy on boy action), **shotacon** to be precise, seeing how Ciel has appearance of thirteen years old boy. Language is there as well._

___**Disclaimer**: Nope._

___A big 'thank you' to **Carrie2sky**, fantastic beta of this story!_

* * *

**Push The Limit**

**Chapter 1**

"Good morning, Phantomhive. As soon as your partner decides it's time to grant us his presence we shall begin," a deep, serious, emotionless voice echoed the office.

"But of course."

Ciel Phantomhive was a death god. A very proud one at that.

So it wasn't easy for him to talk with his '_superiors'_ respectfully. Not when they saw him as nothing more than a bothersome child. Who would blame them really, for he had the appearance of a thirteen-year-old boy. He was a lot older than that, in reality, and he would eventually grow up, but that took more time, a lot of more time than humans' growth.

Obviously, he was the youngest death god. He had great potential, he just passed his final exam, and with that finished his internship. Funny thing, he started those courses when he looked like he was only eight years old together with grim reapers twice his age. And he was the best.

Now, he was supposed to get his first real mission. He was standing in front of a large wooden desk, where two males were sitting at. He knew both of them; they were in charge of coaching newcomers when Ciel came to attend internship. One was dressed completely in red, that one was Grell, while the other one, William T Spears, Ciel recalled, was similar to every other death god in Dispatch Society. Black hair, glasses, tidy suit. The definition of boring.

He hated that fact about grim reapers. They were always so emotionless, so distant and bound to rules. True, Ciel often thought about emotions as human characteristics, but that was the exact reason he found humans interesting. They were so foolish, so full of unnecessary emotions, so unpredictable. So fun to watch and poke fun at.

William was the one who greeted Ciel, but now was too busy shuffling through the papers that were on the desk to start a decent conversation and lessen the awkwardness in the room. Grell, on the other hand, was too busy polishing his nails to even acknowledge Ciel was now with them in the office.

A few minutes of awkward silence passed before doors were opened without previous knocking. Ciel turned around only to see a blond boy, not much older than him, with glasses on the bridge of his nose and typical yellow-green eyes. That was Alois Trancy, the only son of Alfred Trancy, the grim reaper responsible for Admin department. That was the only reason Alois successfully finished and became part of Dispatch Society…after his third try.

"Trancy, you are late again! And those kinds of _clothes_ are prohibited here, you have to wear your uniform," William gestured towards Alois' booty shorts, boots and leather jacket that barely reached his navel, as well as tight T-shirt under it with few 'Fuck you' written over it, before continuing. "You will get suspended for a year if this happens one more time. Is that clear?"

"Yeah, right," was the only answer they got from Alois, aside from rolling his eyes and crossing his arms childishly. Grell looked up for the first time to scan Alois' outfit, but got back to his nails immediately.

"Now, you two will be partners and you'll have one month to decide if a human should be left on a soul retrieval list or not. You can, of course, make your decision earlier," William spoke again and took a file to show them both.

"This is the human's file, read it."

Ciel approached the desk and took the file tiredly. He really found this kind of observing of humans unnecessary. There had never been a human that deserved to be removed from the 'to die' list. Not a single one. Death gods had permission to remove them only if the human in question could change the world.

The first thing he noticed when he took the file was the picture of the human. On the picture was a man in his late twenties with raven black hair and piercing mahogany eyes, his skin was pale, perfectly contrasted to his dark hair. Ciel felt his breath hitch, but he decided it was a better idea to read the file instead of staring at the ridiculous picture.

**_Name_**_. Sebastian Michaelis._

**_Birth_**_. January 24th 1987._

**_Birth _****_place_**_. London, Great Britain._

**_Death expected date_**_. January 15th 2013, at 17:43._

**_Remarks_**_. __"__Expected to die of blood loss." _Ciel read out loud, then started going through the other pages in the file; however, he didn't find any important information there at the moment, so he turned around to face Alois who was still pretending to be sulking, even if there was an evident change in his mood.

"At least come and see this," Ciel said unenthusiastically and the blond listened to him for once. However, when Alois saw Sebastian's photo, he smirked, caressing the picture, his other hand traveling down it suggestively.

"Holy shit, I will _come,_ I swear!" Ciel just glared at Alois. This kid was too perverted for his own good.

"Alright, sir, I will excuse myself now. I have unfinished business to take care of." William nodded, and Ciel exited office.

"I have as well!" He heard Alois shout, so he increased his pace to his dorm, hoping to avoid dealing with the damn idiot.

He took his keys and unlocked the door, and came in. Then he turned the lights on and lay down on his bed. Well this will surely be tiresome. A sigh escaped his lips. He truly never wanted to become part of that damn Dispatch Society. Nevertheless, his father was in control of the General Affairs Department, while his mother's father was none other than the famous Lawrence Anderson, 'Father'. Lawrence was designing and manufacturing glasses for death gods. And, for some reason, glasses had always been the most important detail for every grim reaper worth their salt.

So, Ciel was forced into working under his relatives. That was the reason for him starting his internship at such a young age, while it was his intelligence that naturally brought him to the top. Moreover, his grandfather took his time in designing and making his glasses so they could cover up his biggest flaw; his left eye. It wasn't the normal, yellow-green colour like it is its twin, but a deep blue. That wasn't anything unnatural, only uncommon and quite scandalous for somebody of his social status. So his glasses were oversized and he always wore his fringe on the side, covering it completely. His eye was another reason why his family was avoiding him. Seeing Ciel's eye only reminded them of his, ah, disagreeable nature. He did voice his unwillingness to become respectful grim reaper and they never seemed to appreciate it. However, they did not let anybody know about Ciel's eye nor their disgust of their own son, making a perfect family image for everybody else.

Ciel couldn't find it in himself to care. He never loved his parents or anybody in his family for that matter. They were only a means to get what he wanted, even if he needed to sacrifice something in return. He wouldn't be here for too long. He disliked grim reapers too much. Their obsession with rules the most. Ciel was never one to play by other's rules. He bended them, changed them and finally, broke them.

Glancing at his watch, Ciel decided it was time to go. He stood up and approached the mirror next to his bed. He put on his black jacket and buttoned it up, leaving two last buttons open. It wasn't really formal, but was close enough. The jacket hugged his waist slightly, making him look more fragile than he already was, and its sleeves were wider on their ends, and they had two horizontally positioned navy straps on them. He took and tied a navy bow around his collar. His black pants were already on. Everything he had on himself showed his shape clearly and he hated it. He thought he looked more feminine and younger. _Stupid reapers._

The doors were opened suddenly and Ciel winced remembering he forgot to lock the door.

"So, Ciel, are we going? I jacked off already, you are sooo slow! On the other hand, if you have finished already, I may be able to go another round with you!" Alois was leaning on the door, of course.

Ciel forgot this dimwit knew where his room was. He stayed it in it during the internship. But since he was not willing to go _home_, he simply continued living here. Alois loved trying to make him suffer. And he was succeeding; though probably not in the way he wanted to. Alois was a proud sadist; however Ciel was the only person to deny it. Therefore, he decided to prove himself. Alois' hatred towards Ciel was no secret, and perhaps that was the reason the reapers always paired them up.

"Get out. We are supposed to 'work' separately. In case you've forgotten it," Ciel replied, continuing with putting his shoes on. The blond giggled.

"Oh, I assure you I didn't! But you said we need to be unsuspicious as well, so we need to leave the building together~!"

"I am not daft. I know what I said. I hoped you forgot, after all," Ciel mumbled the last sentence under his breath, but Alois didn't hear or simply ignored him, since there was no response. Ciel finally turned around and gasped when he saw Alois toying with his eye patch, which was on the nightstand next to his bed. That gasp make Alois look up at Ciel, knowing that he had seen what he had done. As their eyes met, Alois smirked.

"Oh, Ciel, what do you need an eye patch for~? I've never seen you wearing it…Then again, I have never seen your left eye either…Hmm…I wonder if those two things are connected~?"

This impossible-! Ugh, it was a surprise he could manage as much as realizing the obvious connection between the hidden eye and the eye patch. So his brain was functioning after all. Though his unpredictable mood changes were quite a bother to Ciel, because that changed the way Ciel could tell him off as well. And now, this nosy _bipolar kid_ dared to question him!

Ciel glared at him, and approached him, and before Alois could react, slapped him and took away his eye patch.

"None of your damn business! Now get out, I want to get rid of you as soon as I can!" And with that said, Ciel left the room with his keys and glared at Alois to exit it as well, so he could lock it.

Alois' eyes were widened, and his trembling hand was raised to touch the cheek that was slapped. Ciel could clearly see disbelief in his eyes, as well as how his pride obviously stung. And Ciel felt pleased.

Alois shook himself from the shock and spat on the floor of Ciel's room before stomping out of it with Ciel following behind. That gesture was probably supposed to anger Ciel, though it failed miserably. Ciel maybe would be angry if it for the fact that there were people who cleaned his room daily. Too bad for Alois.

They were walking (running) less than five minutes before they came out of building. And they separated that instant.

All of that was part of their so-called deal that was made during the final test. They were unfortunately paired, and Alois just kept messing everything up. Mostly on purpose, though. So Ciel was forced to take over and do the actual job, while Alois was walking around city, meeting people. And if he correctly understood, Alois was 'in relationship' with a human or something along the lines.

You see, Ciel knew next to nothing about humans' way of life. Sure they were entertaining at times to watch, but he never bothered to get to know them better. So, logically, he was quite awkward with them. It was easier to interact with reapers; they simply never showed emotions and Ciel got used to being mostly emotionless himself, dealing with reapers was difficult enough for him, but humans on the other hand, would be on the floor crying after one simple conversation with Ciel. He simply lacked the ability to know how to tactfully interact with others. He only knew how to command and get what he wanted.

Ciel walked for another ten meters before he stopped to see if anybody followed him. Nobody was seen, so he proceeded to brush his hair out of his blue eye. With that done, he removed his glasses and tied the eye patch over his right one. When glasses were put on again, he sighed. This was his way of stopping people from freaking out because of his abnormal eyes. It felt like he had two different personalities sometimes. He would show only one at a time, depending on which of his eyes _wasn't_ covered.

But, _ahem_, now was the time to find his target, Sebastian.

* * *

"There it is!" Ciel felt relief wash over him as he stared at the familiar address. It took him some time to find the right house, but he succeeded. Sebastian Michaelis was living here according to his file.

The house was large, too large for him to live alone, with two floors. Its façade looked freshly painted, as white as the first snow. The roof and the doors were black, however, leaving the impression of a modern house. Two similar seemingly expensive cars were parked in front of it.

That was another thing Ciel didn't understand: humans' need for everything they had to be expensive. How vain could they possibly get?

A terrace was there as well, and Ciel could clearly see two black kittens playing with each other, and his nose scrunched up at the sight. Pathetic, really. He hated cats. Dogs were more of his thing.

He heard voices inside the house, so he concluded it would be better to take a closer look and maybe even find Sebastian. He took few steps and looked through the closest window, and, seeing how the room was empty, he went to the next one. That was an interesting thing, when he said empty, he meant _empty_. For somebody who had such big house, expensive cars, and obviously much money, he kept few personal things and furniture at all.

It took three more windows until Ciel found the right room. It was a living room by the looks of things, black and white like the whole house was. But in the centre of the room was a coffee table and two couches on both sides of it. There were four men and one girl, sitting on the couches and Ciel recognized one of them as Sebastian. And he realized how bad the picture in the file portrayed Sebastian. He looked far more breathtaking in person. It was really hard to imagine he would be dead in exactly one month. He seemed so…so full of life. At the moment he was chuckling, his eyes lit up with amusement, one of his brows arched upwards, obviously mocking, while his tall, but slender frame was shaking barely visible to a human's eye, but Ciel picked it up regardless. That man seemed over-confident and arrogant, and Ciel didn't like that trait of his at all. Most humans were like that. For no apparent reason either, they only made fools of themselves. Nevertheless, Sebastian's looks suggested that _maybe _he had a reason.

There was another raven in the room, with golden eyes and glasses. He was sprawled across the couch looking rather doubtfully at Sebastian. A Chinese man was sitting next to him, looking oblivious to the happenings in the room, content with petting the hair of a girl (also Chinese) sitting in his lap. The last person in the room was a white haired Indian who stood beside Sebastian laughing sincerely.

That was an interesting scene indeed, so Ciel ducked under the window and started listening, only the top of his head was showing, trying to grasp who was talking to whom.

"-became quite pathetic. Besides, I honestly don't think that was a good thing to do, Claude. Though nothing better was expected from you." That was Sebastian speaking to the raven on the couch. Sebastian's voice was smooth and deep, a very addicting sound. Not that it made any difference to Ciel, anyway.

"Oh? Is that so? What was I supposed to do? Let him go and get police on our back?" The Claude guy growled, obviously in bad mood.

"On your back, not ours. But now, this decision of yours affects all of us," Sebastian corrected, rolling his eyes.

"Ah, aren't you a smart one, Sebastian? You do know how to get rid of your rivals."

"You, my rival? Good one, I must say," Sebastian chuckled.

"Uh, guys? Calm down, all right? I think we can make our way through this," the white haired Indian jumped into the conversation, trying to stop this fight before it escalated. Hearing this, Sebastian chuckled once again.

"You know us better than that, Agni. What would I do if I couldn't tease Claude and get away with it? Would Lau still-?"

"Ohhh, I do not think now is right time…They say walls have ears, too…" The Chinese spoke interrupting Sebastian, as shivers went down Ciel's spine and he was on the roof in two seconds time. Faintly he could hear somebody respond, but he disappeared before he could see how things ended. Getting caught wasn't exactly his first priority.

* * *

It was December 18th when Ciel was summoned to the Admin Department. Death gods were all around him, typing quietly, and not paying any attention to him. This was his most hated department. The reapers here were far stricter than anywhere else and they always, but always, worked in silence. It would be a miracle if they still knew how to talk, Ciel thought bitterly. He stood still, not wanting to move before the one who called him came to pick him up. So he was relieved when he saw a red haired girl running clumsily to him. She had huge glasses, bigger even than Ciel's, though fogged and cracked.

"Um…I am Mey-Rin, and I requested time, umm, to talk with you?" She whispered, but made her sentence to sound more like a question. She was extremely nervous, looking down instead at Ciel while her hands were behind her back.

"Sure, do you want to talk somewhere more private?" Ciel whispered back putting a hand on her shoulder, which made her tremble and look up. Now he felt a bit nervous as well when he saw all of those reapers looking at them.

"Ye-yeah, I mean yes, let's go to my off-office…" She replied and Ciel nodded, letting her lead the way. They passed few workers and nodded in greeting to them as they entered another hallway. Another turn left and they were in front of the white door with 'Mey-Rin' written above them. Ciel concluded she must be responsible for printing single files in accordance with the soul retrieval list if she had her own office. And if that was true, and she wanted to talk with him, that meant only trouble.

She opened the door and let him in. Ciel sat on the chair closest to him and waited as Mey-Rin sat across from him, on the other side of desk. The office was cozy, all in warm colours and it was so easy to relax there.

"Well, I, um, kinda…" Mey-Rin started nervously, still whispering and therefore she was confirming Ciel's theory about them not being able to talk normally. And it made it somewhat awkward for Ciel to speak in a normal volume, but he did, anyway.

"Yes?"

"Put…the wrong…date…of death on _Sebastian's_ file," she finished finally, covering her face with her hands. "I have been...staring at his picture," she admitted, even quieter than before, but Ciel heard it.

Just exactly what did she expect him to do after hearing such a confession? This girl, she was nuts, she was. She developed crush on a human while working on his death file? How foolish. No, no, how human. And humans were truly funny foolish beings.

"Is that so? What am I supposed to do about it?" He smirked.

This girl felt intimated by Ciel's demeanor. She felt inferior to him, like any other human did. She was a death god, yet she behaved more like a normal human would. So, were not all death gods the same?

"I, I hoped you'd help me, I truly did!"

Ciel blinked. What the-

"And what exactly do you mean by 'help'?"

"I'll, I'll get in trouble. I will be…fired. Please do help me! I'll change this date to the one that was written in the soul retrieval list and you, you tell the others you read the file wrong! I swear no one will pay attention to those details!" Mey-Rin was desperate, she grabbed onto his hands and tears were freely falling down her cheeks. And Ciel…he had never seen somebody of his race cry.

"Ah, I see. But what is the real date of his death then?"

"Umm, January 25th."

The 25th? How could she mess up so easily the 25th and the 15th for God's sake? They were ten days apart! But Ciel kept those feelings inside him, smiling cutely. Now he understood why she approached him of all people. He was a mere child in her eyes. And she acted like a human. Those two things were probably similar to her and she naturally came to him to ask for help.

"Alright, everything will be alright, Mey-Rin," he said, standing up. "I will bid you a goodbye, then."

"Bye, Ciel, thank you very much! I owe you!"

_You sure do_.

Ciel hurriedly exited the Admin Department, this time not minding that the only sound in the room was the clicking of his shoes because death gods stopped typing to glare at him. He just shrugged them off. Really, he couldn't care less what they thought about him. He was 'just a child' after all.

Two minutes had passed and he was headed to his target's house. He had been following him the past three days, and luckily, he hadn't seen Sebastian's _friends_ since the first day.

Ciel found out very few interesting things about Sebastian thus far. He was inside his house while he was not working (he was a cook in a prestigious international restaurant) usually playing with his cats, and he rarely came out to buy groceries. He lived alone, and stayed alone, not once since the first day had Ciel seen him with anybody else.

And Ciel wanted nothing more than to just stamp Sebastian's file 'completed'. Alas, he knew better. He was supposed to last until that January 25th (25th, not 15th!). That was the way he worked. But so far, Sebastian had not provided him with any entertainment, as previous humans had. Sebastian seemed too perfect for a human. Sure, he had his flaws, but he was not foolish, he was clever. Very clever. His moves were never unplanned; Ciel caught on that much until now.

Sighing, Ciel came to Sebastian's house, and approached the window where kitchen was. As he predicted, there was Sebastian, making dinner for himself. That human was so strict to his daily schedule. Never did he fail to perform tasks in time. Yes, he really reminded Ciel of a death god, but there were still huge differences. Like a being a death god.

Ciel shook his head. Why did he become so insistent on over-analyzing others' personalities and comparing them? Was he unsatisfied with his own? No, that was an absolute no. Ciel had never been the one to have issues. Never. So, whilst he was trying to get his mind away from such topics, Sebastian moved from the kitchen stove and sat on the chair close to it, lighting up a cigarette.

Well, in past few days Ciel had not even once seen Sebastian smoking. Nope. So, logically, that triggered the thought that this wasn't the only thing Sebastian was hiding. Now, this made Ciel feel like a secret agent, not a reaper, spying on his target like that. Why did he care anyways? The sooner he was dead the sooner Ciel would be able to go back to his boring life until a new mission came. Not that he was thrilled about that prospect, but watching Sebastian was proving fruitless so far. He certainly didn't seem worthy of being taken of the 'to die' list what from he had seen so far. Would the next mission be as tiresome as this one was? Most likely. Ah, Alois was a lucky one there.

Though this deal they made gave Ciel so many ways to blackmail Alois, so much power over somebody who hated him from the depths of his heart. One wrong move and Alois would be out of the Dispatch Society forever. **As if**. Alois' father, being the important person, could save him, in exchange of his late night '_services'_. Like it had been done in the past, Ciel remembered. So he was literally powerless in this situation. However, things would change, he knew that much. Damn disgusting creature.

Ciel jumped when a window above him opened. He was too lost in thought to notice Sebastian move! When he tried crawling away, hand snatched his collar and lifted him effortlessly. He was thrown in the house and he landed perfectly next to the table in the centre of the room. He looked at it and noticed that the cigarette was still not extinguished, meaning Sebastian probably knew Ciel was there the whole time and just waited for the moment he was distracted, like he was a minute ago. Sebastian sure did have skills. Though '_how'_ was the first question to pop into Ciel's mind.

He turned back around to be confronted by a smirking Sebastian, whose eyes were on Ciel's one, like he was searching for something. His composure was completely relaxed, like he had done this many times before. Since body language did not reveal anything at all, Ciel's eye fixed on Sebastian's again, glaring at him as a warning.

"You really thought I didn't notice you from the first day, kid?" Sebastian asked in a mocking tone, and despite the questioning nature, this question was not meant to be answered. This question was just a confirmation, just a way to show off. And Ciel gave his best not to give away his irritation when he was addressed as a kid. This was their mind game after all.

"So, pray tell, why were you spying on me?"

* * *

_**A/N**: Thanks for the reading! How did you like it?_

_I believe I should clear few things up. I based whole grim reaper society off Kuroshitsuji OVA 'The Tales of Will the Grim Reaper__', but since that's the only source we have about reapers, there were many things I assumed. From manga we know reapers share humans' basic needs, so I assumed they age as well (I got that from OVA, Will and Grell looked a bit younger, about four or five years I think, while aforementioned Lawrence Anderson looks pretty old) and here in about 25 years they would look one year older. Therefore Ciel was born in 1688 here. And he started his internship in 1888 XD_

_By the way, that shitty picture for this story is supposed to represent Ciel. His appearance here, I mean. Yep, the author of that same shitty pic is me._

_Please do review! Tell me if you liked it, disliked it or you couldn't care less. Every feedback means so much to me!_

**_Kitten Rebel_**.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: **I'd like to thank everybody who added this story to their favorites/alerts and to specially thank **sujufreakz**, **Carrie2sky,** **Thegraybluekitten**, **Quinn1989** as well as **two guests** who have reviewed. You are amazing! :)_

_Also thankies to **Carrie2sky** for beta-ing this story!_

_The last warning, this is **Sebastian x Ciel**. If you dislike it, do not, I repeat, do not read. XDD_

_Now, I won't delay second chapter anymore, so please enjoy reading!_

* * *

**Push The Limit**

**Chapter 2**

Ciel glared at Sebastian, not letting any sound pass his lips. His face showed irritation and that only. The other emotions he felt at the moment did not make an appearance, _luckily_. This human was undeniably attractive; Ciel was also a tad disappointed. He expected more from the man since he was already aware of Ciel's presence for few days. Maybe to corner Ciel immediately and leave him no other option but to reveal information he apparently was hiding. But Sebastian was too relaxed, leaving too much room for Ciel to avoid giving a direct answer.

"Did you not hear me? I asked why you were spying on me for the past four days?" Sebastian repeated, a smile gracing his features. It was faked obviously, but if it were a different situation they were in, Ciel would believe it was sincere. So, Sebastian was a good actor as well.

"I did hear you. Though I do not find it necessary to answer your question seeing how I do not know what were you talking about," Ciel lied and arrogantly tilted his chin up, making Sebastian's smile melt and become a smirk. A kind of smirk that could only mean something bad coming. A kind of smirk he has never encountered before. Predatory almost.

"Oh my, quite a rebellious child, aren't we? Do you honestly think I believe that? I detest lies, and bad ones at that. You can drop the innocent act and answer my question, because you are not leaving here until you do." He motioned Ciel to sit on the chair across from the one he had been sitting on before he had to _intervene_.

Ciel waited for Sebastian to sit first, and when he did, Ciel did as well. These chairs were much more comfortable than the ones from the Dispatch Society he had the displeasure to sit on. He leaned back, deciding he could play Sebastian's game.

Now, he had two options. He could always tell the truth (and probably go to mental asylum. Ciel had actually seen one long time ago, in 1700s and he would rather not go there again anytime soon) or simply lie. He lied smoothly to his superiors telling them that yes, he was now living his dream and yes, he was so glad to be given a chance to become a grim reaper.

However, he didn't really have to 'talk' to a human before until now and didn't have much practice in lying to them. On top of that, this particular human had already seen through his first attempt at trying to avoid the truth. No doubt if he lied again, this guy would be on to him no time flat. Weighing his options, he couldn't think of any reasonable excuse to tell the human, so he decided glaring in silence would suffice.

About two minutes passed, during which Sebastian took his cigarette again and putting it to hang from the corner of his mouth, he stood up and walked to the cupboards. Ciel followed his every movement and his eyes widened when he realised Sebastian was taking out a gun.

He was not scared at all, knowing some human weapon could not wound him, but rather surprised. Why did this human have a gun? His life did seem peaceful during last few days, and yet…

"Very well then, I don't think I have any use for you if you don't want to say anything. Any last words? Not that they would be heard by anybody else but me…" Sebastian crept behind him and pressed the gun barrel to the side of Ciel's head, tilting it back, so they could keep the eye contact. Ciel just blinked at him.

"No."

"Oh, my…" There was a clicking noise too close to Ciel's head for his comfort, but he didn't look away from the man above him. But when the gunshot was heard Ciel instinctively clamped his eyes shut, waiting for inevitable pain that was to come. Nothing came. It didn't hurt. No pain, no bullet through his head.

Just _silence_.

He dared to open his eyes just a bit to see Sebastian smirking and removing the gun, tossing it on the table.

"W-what?!" Ciel asked, confused, leaning on the table, while Sebastian sat across him.

"So you _are_ loyal after all. I think you can be quite useful if that's the case,"the human replied nonchalantly. "Tsk, people these days are becoming more and more desperate," Sebastian mused, more to himself than to the boy. Ciel's curious gaze wandered to the used gun. How did that happen? Was it unloaded? Probably. He reached for it, wanting to study it and confirm his theories, but his hand was immediately slapped away. Ciel looked at Sebastian confused, but the latter glared at him and took the gun for himself.

"I took you for smarter than that," Sebastian concluded, seemingly slightly amused by boy's sudden childish behaviour. Well, Ciel knew he was quite curious. But definitely _not_ childish. He knew nothing about guns and it was the most _logical_ thing to try to find out more about them.

"Why do you have a gun?" Ciel replied with a question.

"I think you know I won't answer this question. It is self-explanatory. You were _spying_ on me, after all." Ciel's eyebrows shot upwards, but then furrowed when he remembered Sebastian didn't know the truth. Was he now supposed to act as if he _was_ a spy to lead the human off track? So, how do spies act?

"Hmph, think whatever you want about that, but I'm leaving," he announced annoyed by the intense stare he was given and stood up, heading for the door. He had run out of ideas of what to do with this human, now that he had been discovered.

Sebastian came around quickly and blocked Ciel's path. Ciel frowned at this. "Oh, I don't think so. I told you, you are not leaving here until I learn your real intentions." The raven reached out and grabbed Ciel's hand, effectively keeping him in place. Ciel tried to free his hand, but this human's was pretty strong.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" He asked carefully, not daring to look up at the human's face that was towering over him. He felt large hands trailing from his hand to his shoulders, holding them firmly in place.

"I mean exactly what I said. You will be prohibited from leaving my house. You will be trapped here," Sebastian lowered his voice to a whisper and bended down a bit, so he could make sure Ciel heard him.

"No." Ciel could clearly feel the human's breath on his neck and he could not deny how uncomfortable this whole situation was. The same hands that were on his shoulders grabbed his face and titled it upwards to look at the man. He smirked down at him and took few steps back to sit back on the chair.

"Now, _strip_." A command was given in husky, but rough tone that left no place for disagreement. Ciel ignored that fact, though.

"What?!" He shouted. He was frozen; not quite believing what was he hearing. Sebastian, on the other hand, was looking at him, as if he was some idiot.

"Oh, I thought I made it clear. Strip, as in undress, take your clothes off, get naked." The taller of the two explained with all seriousness and motioned towards Ciel's clothes.

"I understand what 'striping' means! There is no way that I am going to undress in front of you, damn pervert!" Ciel screeched, hugging himself, unconsciously trying to shield himself from Sebastian's gaze that was still fixed on his eyes.

"You have to, unless you want my _'help'_. I need to check whether you have any weapons or recording devices on you." Sebastian reached for Ciel's hand and yanked him between his spread legs, in a perfect position to undress him easily. He reached for the buttons on the boy's jacket, but small hands stopped him.

"Let me go! Damn you!" Ciel's protests were unheard as Sebastian easily removed the boy's hands out of the way since he was the stronger one –oh yes, Ciel still had yet to learn about his powers as a reaper, which was not a small task. He still had to practise his ability to move faster than any human could, and had not yet mastered this skill. People who called themselves his parents rushed him enough as it was.

The first few buttons came undone and Ciel panicked.

"N-no! I'll do it by myself, keep your hands to yourself!" The reaper wiggled his way out of Sebastian's grip and stood still in the centre of the room, making sure he was far enough from the pervert on the chair. Sebastian crossed his legs and his eyebrows shot up waiting for the boy to continue.

Ciel would lie if he said he was not nervous about his predicament. The only people that had ever seen him completely naked were his parents and family doctor, and besides he was younger at that time. Naturally, a stranger requesting him to undress willingly was too much. He looked around desperately, for some way out of this,when he spotted the window through which he was thrown inside. Luckily, it was left open, and he started calculating if he could be fast enough to run away from the damned mansion before this creep would notice.

"If you entertain that thought again, you will be stripped of your life." Sebastian's voice was too cold and deep, his amusement now minimal.

Swallowing hard, and having little choice in the matter, Ciel did as he was told and started undressing. He wanted this to be over as soon as possible, but he was reluctant to let Sebastian see all of him. So he started undoing the remaining buttons and his jacket was off.

"Where should I put it?" He asked, not wanting to dirty it, and well, just throwing it on the floor seemed embarrassing.

"Give it here." Sebastian reached out for the jacket and the boy approached him to place it into waiting hands. However, human threw it to the floor the moment he took it and placed his foot on it. Mahogany eyes looked right into blue ones expectantly, telling him he should undress completely. The boy didn't step back, this time, but rather continued what he was doing right in front of the owner of the mansion.

Ciel pulled of his white shirt over his head, effectively removing the ribbon that was around his neck, though it fell on the floor. The boy bent down and picked it up, and proceeded with folding his shirt before handing it to Sebastian. He gritted his teeth as the raven ignored the fact it was so neatly folded only to throw it on the jacket, before putting his foot on it again.

His milky chest was now completely exposed, and he noticed how Sebastian eyed it, apparently searching for the said devices. He noticeably shuddered, the gaze fixed on his boyish chest having huge effect on him. Thankfully, soon enough a small nod was given to him as permission to continue.

The boy's tight trousers were unbuttoned as the two of them kept the eye contact. Trousers were slid down the slender thighs; he stepped out of them and picked them up as well, giving them to Sebastian who repeated the process from before. Socks were added on the pile of clothes under Sebastian's foot a few seconds later.

"Do I really need to take them off?" Ciel asked, motioning at his white briefs, slightly blushing. Sebastian nodded, unfortunately.

"But I can't hide any devices there, idiot!" The boy was now fully blushing, and he desperately voiced the first excuse that he could think of, embarrassing himself further.

Sebastian kept his indifferent expression and shrugged. "I've seen weirder things than that kid, believe me."

"Tch, of course you have," Ciel muttered sarcastically, bristling at being called a 'kid' and shaking his head and lowered it, hoping his fringe would cover his blush as he struggled with getting damn briefs off. The task itself was more than easy, but he struggled really hard with his resolve to give Sebastian what he wanted, making the task take longer than needed.

The only reaper in the room clamped his eyes shut, finally finding it in himself to let his briefs slide down his legs. When they did, he carefully opened them, stepped out of them, and fought his first reflex to try to cover his intimates with his hands, trying to keep his determined appearance _and_ his pride.

"Come here," he was commanded in a tone that left no room for argument. Ciel would have loved to strike out and run away, but that wasn't an option, so he instead took his previous position between Sebastian's legs but not without rolling his eyes. He glared at the raven, his blush ruining the appearance he wanted so desperately to keep. The human's hands that were now on his hip and shoulder kept him in place as he examined the boy, taking off his earrings and glasses and then reaching to undo the eye patch. Ciel let him do that, but closed his right eye, not wanting his secret to be revealed. Sebastian brushed his blue-grey fringe out of his closed eye and held his shoulder for few seconds before finally standing up.

"Alright, follow me." Having little other choice, Ciel did so. Even if he was naked (and half-blind), he was at least grateful Sebastian didn't spare him a second glance after he was finished. It made things less awkward. They exited the living room and entered a long narrow hallway, and the first thing Ciel noticed were numerous doors on both sides, though he couldn't see them clearly. But he hadn't enough time to ponder it before Sebastian opened the second door on his left and entered the dark room.

It was a bedroom if Ciel had to guess. He had seen Sebastian using it before. It was large, painted in white, with a king sized bed under the window, with curtains that matched the colour of the whole room. The floor was wooden and really cold, seeing how it was the beginning of winter, so Ciel was almost jumping in place trying to warm himself. He did, however, hug himself in an effort to keep warm.

Sebastian walked over to the wardrobe across the room, searching for something, obviously. The young reaper wondered about it for a moment before he decided that the human had to be searching for the clothes for him to wear. His suspicions were confirmed when Sebastian turned around carrying a white piece of clothing.

"Sit down."

Ciel sneered, offended that Sebastian was treating him like a dog, (and a child) but with a sigh decided he had to listen to him. Said man crouched next to Ciel's sitting form and started dressing him in his white shirt.

"I can dress myself, thank you very much!" Ciel slapped his hands away.

Nevertheless, hands made their way past Ciel's and slipped his arms through the sleeves and began to button it.

"I'm sure you can, however, I would rather not risk anything. Thus, I believe I should be the one to dress you. Who knows what you could smuggle if you tried."

Another two buttons were in their rightful places.

"Ugh, you can watch me dressing, alright? Just leave my bloody personal space!"

Hands froze after another button was buttoned. And owner of the hands looked up at the small child on his bed.

"Is that so? You were invading my personal space for last three days continuously, though you cannot endure me in yours for more than five minutes? You hardly have a right to complain about this. You are quite unfair," Sebastian mused, faking a slightly upset tone.

Ciel looked back at him and winced when he realized how hard was it to keep one eye closed all the time.

"Most things in this world are," he mumbled.

A chuckle escaped thin lips that belonged to the raven man kneeling in front of him.

"You certainly know that well, don't you?" What was he implying with that statement? Did this human know something? Or perhaps, was that a trap? A way to reveal Ciel's identity? Of course it was. It was probably based off the fact that the human children of his age (_appearance_) were mostly forced into illegal business. If Ciel understood it well, spying was one of those. Consequently, Sebastian referred to that kind of life as an unfair one. That's right. This man was an excellent manipulator. However, Ciel was smarter than that.

He simply stayed quiet, letting Sebastian finish dressing him.

The shirt he was given was evidently Sebastian's, seeing how its sleeves were almost twice as long as Ciel's arm, so the said human had to roll them up -with a chuckle!- before they were no longer an obstacle. In addition, the shirt reached to Ciel's mid-thighs, so it covered everything that needed to be covered, but still short in Ciel's mind.

"Ugh, you could've at least found something longer…" He mumbled under his breath adjusting the lower hem of shirt.

"I could have indeed; this was my smallest shirt, after all," Sebastian was quick to reply as he tied some piece of cloth to cover Ciel's right eye. He leaned back, taking in the sight of the child on his bed and nodded in approval to himself.

"What about my glasses?" The boy found himself asking, looking up, but seeing hardly anything.

"They will be burned as your other clothes will. However, I do think I can find you a new pair, if it is necessary. Which diopter do you wear?"

"Minus seven," Ciel replied and Sebastian made no response leaving the two in uncomfortable silence. Until Ciel decided to break it, that is.

"So what now? Are you going to lock me up here? Can I at least have the privilege of knowing the name of the man who will keep me as his _hostage_?" Ciel spat through his teeth, quite disgusted at the mere idea of being a hostage. At least that would not last longer than a month. Sebastian would be dead by January 25th. And he would be there to collect the soul of his tormentor.

"My, you sure don't play the part of 'hostage' well, do you? Though I wouldn't give you the satisfaction of knowing what will happen to you." Sebastian smirked sadistically.

"Tch, you ignored the question about your name." The blue-eyed boy rolled his only visible eye, pretending convincingly he had no idea about the matter in question. Well, not as convincingly as he thought, since one of Sebastian eyebrows was raised skeptically.

"…Sebastian. Since we skipped formalities, I believe we should go back and redo it. What is yours?"

"Ciel." The boy had no idea why he gave his real name to this stranger, but he guessed it didn't matter either way. Sebastian would not have any chances of discovering anything in time span of one month anyway.

"So Ciel…" Sebastian said, letting Ciel's name roll of his tone in a way that gave Ciel the shivers. He leaned over the bed so he could raise the pillow and take some handcuffs out from under it. "I will need to go out, as you have probably noticed after observing me; I have to go help out in the restaurant at this time of day. You will stay here, of course." A handcuff was closed around his wrist, while the other one was closed around the bedpost.

Slight panic rose in Ciel's chest, and he looked wide-eyed at Sebastian.

"No, let me go! I refuse to sit here chained!"

"Do not worry, I will provide you with temporary entertainment. I have my library, but the books in this room are my personal favourites." He walked over to the small shelf Ciel didn't even noticed until then, took out few books, and tossed them on the bed, next to Ciel. "These are classics. I hope you like to read." He waved, before opening the door.

"Hey, wait-" But the doors closed behind the hurried raven. Ciel sat and listened carefully to the sounds outside the room, trying to comprehend what was happening. He heard another set of doors slam and a lock click.

He tugged at the chain that was connecting him to the bed. It wasn't really short; if he stood up he could walk about five feet away from the bed. However, that was not enough. He didn't like the idea of being chained to the bed the whole month.

He tugged once again, this time desperately. Maybe, just maybe, his strength could appear out of nowhere and save him from suffering.

Or maybe, if his father listened to him just this once, he wouldn't be in such mess. But no, his father thought how having a normal, usual death scythe would be too dangerous for his little son. He was way too young and he could hurt himself. Ciel had the brains, he said, but some rules had to apply to him too.

Since Vincent Phantomhive was the head of General Affair department, the department that was manufacturing death scythes, he thought of a special one. In the form of the sapphire ring, it had no blades, and when it came in contact with the body of the dead human, it would force their cinematic record out.

Peacefully, and discreetly. No additional jobs had to be done, and no incidents could be made. A perfect death scythe and the only one of that kind.

But it was fairly useless in situations like this.

He sighed, turning to the books on the bed. If he squinted and let only three inches be between his nose and the book, he could read their names. Shakespeare, Allan Edgar Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde were the authors Ciel recognized. Well, when Sebastian said classics, he surely meant it. Ciel liked to read, though his schedule often didn't allow him to do so. The only reason he was permitted to read even then was that his father was quite a proud reaper. A proud reaper who collected the soul of William Shakespeare when he was still young. So, after Shakespeare's death, Vincent made sure everyone in the house knew at least one of his works by heart.

Ugh. Maybe reading could provide him a 'temporary entertainment' while he waited for Sebastian to come back. He picked up a random book –and brought it to his nose –to start reading.

Well, this proved to be quite bothersome.

* * *

Sebastian was walking hurriedly down the overly crowded streets of London. The fact Christmas was nearing didn't help that at all. Many people turned around when he pushed them out of his way, cursing and threatening him, but he was late, what else could he do? It was even pouring and he completely forgot his umbrella.

His thoughts were somewhere else completely. The little boy –Ciel –he had caught was his main concern at the moment. Even if he had his own suspicions about him, this boy proved to be hard to gain information from. He was obviously intelligent and quite an actor, if Sebastian said so himself. A natural, seeing how young he was. No doubt he was in this business already some time. Perhaps making him stay at his mansion was not the cleverest thing he could have done, but, if he were as useful as he looked like, that wouldn't matter.

_Ciel_, he had said. _Ciel_.

He had to keep him away from the others, though. The boy would be killed if they were to find out. Sebastian didn't want him dead. Well, true, if the boy did succumb and said who was he working for when Sebastian threatened him, he would have been long dead. Sebastian had no use for weaklings. This boy wasn't the one of them and he could be Sebastian's salvation. Only time will show that, though.

He was late just because of that little boy. Not only he had to confront him for the first time and lose his time in burning his clothes, but he also had to pick up his glasses. He was in hurry, so he asked a close friend of his who had a similar correction on both eyes to help him to find some glasses in less than an hour. They found one pair, though it was minus six, he supposed that would suffice until he had time to buy a new pair.

He took a sharp turn to his left, knocking somebody off, though ignoring it, to find himself in front of enormous famous restaurant where he worked. _'Tiger Eye Palace'_ was written in artistic cursive font above the entrance. The whole building was shaped like a palace, attracting attention of by-passers. That was a beautiful sight, really. As was the food they were serving. It was only natural for them to be the best in the whole London.

"Hey jerk, watch out!"

Sebastian heard the person on the ground, but didn't give him a glance as he entered the restaurant. At the moment his career was a lot more important. Strong brightness forced him to squint. When he got used to it, he opened his eyes again to see many people dressed smartly sitting and chattering, as well as staff who happily took their orders. The atmosphere was light and it resembled an Indian restaurant. Well, it was not really an Indian restaurant, since its menu offered Indian Chinese cuisine. That was an interesting mixture of Chinese seasoning and Indian cooking techniques and Sebastian actually loved cooking it.

He fixed his jacket, and started slowly pushing through the crowd to the kitchen, this time with a charming smile and 'excuse me's.

"Sebastian! Are you all right? Did anything happen?" A worried voice could be heard as a white-haired Indian grabbed his shoulders to stop Sebastian even before he reached kitchen.

"Did you run into-?"

"Do not worry, Agni, everything is as usual," Sebastian tried to calm him down, slowly putting his hands off his shoulders, smiling at him. When a calm look crossed Agni's face, he took a step back and gestured towards kitchen, directing Agni to walk with him there.

"You really had me worried, Sebastian. You are never late," Agni confessed, wiping sweat off his forehead as a small smile of relief took its place on his face. "Not only was I worried, though, but everybody else was too, even Lau!" He chuckled and Sebastian did as well, trying to make the tension go away.

"It's nothing really. I just had some business to take care of. Please do not worry about it, that was not my intention to be so late." Sebastian opened the door for both him and Agni, but as he did, he was jumped on.

"Mister Sebastian!" A little blond boy, waiter Finnian, shouted and enveloped Sebastian in a bone-crushing hug. He worked a part time job here –he was about fourteen years old –and he was definitely the restaurant's current mascot. He won the hearts of customers with his cute bright smile and adorable personality.

"Finny, I am here now, do forgive my tardiness. I was caught in an unexpected storm, as you can see." The older man explained raising his arm; showing how soaking wet he was. Finny looked sympathetically and probably was just about to voice his apologies when he was interrupted.

"Well, yeah, man, ya could've warned us or something." An older blond man, a _cook_ Baldroy, approached Sebastian. He wasn't a cook, per se, seeing how he wasn't capable of making anything edible; he was more of a model, he was the one who presented Tiger Eye Palace in public.

A cigarette was hanging from his mouth and before he could say another word, Sebastian snatched it.

"What have I said about your cigarettes so many times already? And about properly addressing me?"

"That smoking is strictly prohibited inside the kitchen, _sir_," Baldroy mumbled and snorted. "I wasn't even smoking! It just happened to be there at the moment!" He almost shouted, throwing his arms in air, trying to prove his point.

"Well, that is unfortunate. Now, everybody back to work! We can't afford slacking off today!" Sebastian instructed, rolling back the sleeves of his shirt and approaching the nearest sink to wash his hands. Everybody present nodded, some of them less enthusiastically than the others did.

As Sebastian took a bar of soap, he saw a shadow next to his. He turned around to face Claude. He had one eyebrow raised, silently questioning his actions. Sebastian, however, just rolled his eyes, returning to washing hands ignoring Claude completely. He would lie if he said he liked the older man. No, in fact, he _hated_him.

"It is indeed very rare to see you late," Claude spoke, but Sebastian still refused to turn around and acknowledge anything that came out of Claude's mouth.

"Though I truly doubt it was enough for one storm to stop you after all you've been through. Is there anything we should know? What kind of trouble did you get yourself into?" Claude insisted, making Sebastian close his eyes and exhale in order to calm himself.

"Do mind your own business, Claude."

"Were you disobeying Lau's orders again? Tsk, and you lectured me about not being careful."

Sebastian flashed him a fake bright smile wiping his hands, completely content with leaving Claude alone for the time being and ignoring his further attempts to irritate him. So he did turn around this time, to walk away though.

"Oh, were you fooling around again? There's no shame in admitting it, Sebastian." Claude smugly added, a smirk growing on his lips.

"_I'm not like you_," Sebastian growled, stopping dead in his tracks.

"Mhm. I'll drop by your place tonight, alright? I don't think this should be a conversation for everybody to hear, wouldn't you agree?" And with that, Claude nodded to himself and disappeared into the crowd.

Oh how lovely, having Claude over while Ciel was there. Well, he hoped Ciel was reasonable enough not to let himself be found by Claude. That would make an unnecessary mess, and most likely the death of the boy.

Claude was a chef in 'Tiger Eye Palace' as well. He and Sebastian never got along well, but they were undeniably the best in their business. Unlike Sebastian, Claude was pretty much emotionless. Unless, of course, he was with people he knew well, as he knew Sebastian. In the presence of those people he would become arrogant and over-confident. That was his true personality. Everything else was just a mask. A mask that everybody had fallen for.

So did Sebastian in the beginning.

He needed to find some excuse to get out of work earlier.

* * *

Sebastian unlocked the door of his mansion, and the first thing he did was to check up on Ciel. He managed to convince the others how, if he wanted to get home on time, he needed to get out a bit earlier, thanks to the storm outside. Luckily, they believed him, because, true enough, he always hated driving this time of year. Streets were always too crowded and counting the time he needed to find the empty parking lot, he was quicker on foot.

He fumbled through the hallway, trying to take off his soaked coat and gloves, while at the same time he was supposed to enter the right room. He succeeded, fortunately, but he was really taken aback by the sight that greeted him.

Ciel was fast asleep, curled in a ball, holding his hand in front of his mouth. He was still wearing Sebastian's shirt, though it was slightly in disarray, it seemed like the child had a restless sleep before Sebastian had come, and the books he was given were all over the bed. He did read them in the end. Sebastian gave him the books on purpose, knowing he couldn't read without his glasses (diopter minus seven was severe after all) but the child had at least tried and most likely tired himself doing it. He knew Ciel wasn't lying about his diopter, he had checked the glasses, and confirmed it for himself.

This child…To leave himself so vulnerable like this in the house of his potential killer? Maybe he wasn't so intelligent.

The man approached the bed, and sat on it. Ciel stirred and Sebastian supposed he wasn't as fast asleep as he first thought.

"Ah…who's there?" A soft, but demanding, though not as demanding as it was before, broke the silence in the room.

"Oh my, do you really not know?" Sebastian asked with a smirk.

Ciel didn't respond immediately, not only he was still sleepy, but also he was probably distracted with the lack of good sight.

"S-Sebastian?"

"Naturally. I believe these glasses would be alright for you…?" Sebastian trailed off taking the rectangular glasses out of his breast pocket. Ciel blindly grabbed his hand, miscalculating the distance between them. Sebastian shook his head and put the glasses on for him.

The reaper looked up at the human. His vision was still very blurry, but perhaps it would be better when he got used to it.

"Ciel," Sebastian started and the child's brows furrowed when he wondered how Sebastian knew his name. He remembered a second later that he himself revealed it to the human. "I'll need you to be quiet. I will have some people over, the ones you have already seen me with, and, well, if they found out I have a little rat in my house, they'd make sure to get the rid of it. I have other plans for you, though." He smirked.

That smirk made a shiver run down Ciel's spine. It didn't mean anything good, as he said before. Nevertheless, he repeated to himself many, many, times that a human couldn't do any damage to him. He had the power, he would be able to make any human fall and beg for their life. It was a matter of summoning it to put it to use.

"I'll see what I can do," Ciel replied equally smugly, returning the smirk with one of his own.

"Oh, you will be free to wander around the room while they are here. The bathroom is behind those doors there." Sebastian added unlocking the handcuffs and Ciel sprinted towards the doors he pointed at the moment he was free.

* * *

Ciel was sitting on the bed, blinking constantly, trying to get used to new glasses. _Ha_, other death gods would be so furious when they saw he wore normal human glasses. Especially his father and Lawrence. There weren't any differences, really. Except, of course, that grim reaper glasses made the reaper very proud, while they'd sneer with disgust at the mere sight of human ones. So naturally, this was supposed to be a blow to Ciel's pride as a grim reaper. It wasn't. He couldn't care less about something as insignificant as glasses. He hated being a death god either way.

Sebastian was, judging by the noises, cooking dinner. For himself, most likely. He just didn't seem the type to feed his hostages. Not to starve him to death, since he said he had some plans for him, but just enough for him to feel physical pain. Sadistic bastard.

His musings were interrupted when a doorbell rung and he stilled in place. Oh no, oh no, oh no. Calm down, calm down. Only guests were coming. They weren't dangerous for him. They weren't.

Sebastian left the dinner, which was almost done, to get the door. Oh, so there was Claude. He quickly wiped his hands clean and hurried up. He peeked through the peephole and he must admit the sight didn't at all surprise him. He sighed, unlocked the door and let himself be pushed inside by the impatient blond.

"Sebby, I really missed you! Claude refused to let me see you, he was jealous for sure! No offence though, my eyes are on him only!" Said blond screeched and Sebastian suppressed the urge to rub his ears. Oh this person-

"Alois, please. We talked about this already." Claude shook his head in (_fake_) disappointment. Alois peaked his head from Sebastian's chest for him to see two unusual coloured eyes. Both were yellow-green and on a closer inspection, Sebastian realized he wore contact lenses. The look in his eyes was anything but innocent, and he almost shuddered when Alois licked his lips and (_thankfully_) stepped back.

Alois looked like he was about fifteen years old, of very feminine build. That seemed to work wonders for Claude. Because they apparently were fuck-buddies.

Oh, yes, Claude was a pedophile in Sebastian's eyes. Had been and will always be.

"Do enter, dinner is almost ready." Sebastian said smiling and got out of the way and opened the doors widely motioning for them to join him. They did so and Sebastian led them into the dining room. He noticed how Alois was practically skipping through the apartment, excitement oozing out of him. He surely noticed how he looked at him too.

They entered the hallway that connected the most of the rooms on the first floor and he was just about to tell Alois not to jump because it's too narrow for that, when he knocked over the only painting on the wall.

"Oh! Sebby, I am so sorry, I didn't see it!" He shouted quite loudly, reaching out for Sebastian's arms, as seeking forgiveness. Sebastian just rubbed his temple closing his eyes.

"It's alright, Alois, though I'd ask you-"

"Alois?!"

The three occupants of the all too small hallway turned around to see a blue-haired barefoot boy whose one arm was resting against doorframe. He was blinking too frequently until his eyes widened and he took in the sight before him.

That was indeed Alois Trancy. Alois Trancy who ditched him and left him be caught and be imprisoned by a _human_. But Alois' face developed a strange expression, one of confusion, and his eyes were focused on Ciel's one…Before morphing to the one of sheer amusement. "Ciel?"

His eye! Alois wasn't supposed to find out about his right eye! While Sebastian, also present in the room wasn't supposed to ever see his left one. What a complicated situation…

Ciel just gaped, opening his mouth and then closing it, unsuccessfully trying to form a sentence. He leaned completely on the doorframe sighing, calming himself and turned his gaze to Sebastian. At least Sebastian was as confused as he was. However, when he caught Ciel staring at him, he furrowed his brows, obviously furious because the boy managed to mess everything up.

"You were fooling around after all, Sebastian, weren't you? I must commend you, though, you have quite the taste." The forth, forgotten male mused, obviously amused by the turn of events and effectively bringing Sebastian's attention back to him. A small smirk was plastered on Claude's face and Sebastian caught Alois sneering in disgust at the unusual facial expression. Claude did that again, taking Sebastian for some pervert like him.

Oh well, this could be a perfect opportunity to get out of this whole mess.

Sebastian smirked at Claude and slowly and very elegantly, cat-like strolled behind Ciel. Ciel looked up confused at him tilting his chin to see him, his brows furrowing and his lips in a perfect little pout. It seem the matter of Ciel knowing Alois would have to wait, if Sebastian wanted Ciel alive.

So he wrapped his arms around Ciel's slim waist, bending to his level, and putting his chin to rest next on Ciel's shoulder, rubbing their cheeks together. Ciel blushed furiously, even more than he did earlier that day. He still had his bed hair, his shirt was a mess, the first few first buttons were undone (thanks to the restless sleep);and with his sleeves rolled up, it was evident that it was Sebastian's shirt. With that kind of appearance, it was so easy…

"You see Claude, you were partially right. Ciel is my _boyfriend_."

* * *

_**A/N:** Ah, did he *gasp*...make Ciel his boyfriend? Oh yeah, he so did. Naughty Sebastian, naughty. (good dog, Sebastian, that's right.)_

_So what do you think so far about this fanfiction? Would you continue reading it? _

_I am planning to update it at least one more time until June is over, I'm having pretty busy days until then. But after June is over, I will update it much more frequently. I hope this chapter made up for seventeen days wait! XD_

_Thank you, **Quinn1989 **for giving me the idea for Ciel's death scythe!_

_Thank you for reading! I would...appreciate if you **review **;)_

_**Kitten Rebel**._


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N:** I am back, as promised! Firstly, I want to thank **Narutopokefan**, **Carrie2sky**, **tina**, **Thegraybluekitten**, **Quinn1989**, **sujufreakz**, **Reviewer666**, **machi-pan**, **JezebelStrike**, **bluejeanswhiteshirttt **and **KuroPenny **for reviewing, it means so much to me! And to all of you who followed, favorited or just read this fanfic!_

_I'd like to thank this amazing author, **machi-pan**, for all support she offered me :) She wrote beautiful Kuroshitsuji story "**Defenestration**", an art piece! If you're in need to read something good, go check it out!  
_

_Of course, thank you, **Carrie2sky**, for beta-ing this chapter!  
_

_I think you waited long enough for this chapter, so I won't further delay it! The only warning for it is language!_

* * *

**Push The Limit**

**Chapter 3**

"You see Claude, you were partially right. Ciel is my _boyfriend_."

Ciel's eyes widened and his mouth fell open in shock. What was this idiot saying? A boyfriend? As in, a man who is in relationship with you? Your significant other? Oh, no, no, Ciel wasn't going to be a part of this crap. Sebastian was overdoing it. He turned around to the said human, whose face was still resting on his left shoulder, not even trying to cover up a look of utter horror on his face. He didn't care if Alois or Claude knew about Sebastian's doings because of him.

Sebastian, on the other hand, smiled reassuringly, obviously having foreseen Ciel's reaction. However, when a single peck was delivered to his left temple, he blushed furiously, up to his ears.

"Hush, love, do not worry. No matter what they may look like, both of them are trustworthy, believe me. There's no need to hide our relationship from them," Sebastian cooed in his ear, a hot breath not helping his blush to retreat. The arms around his waist tightened their grip possessively. Ciel had to commend Sebastian, no matter how annoying the man was. Somehow, he always found the way out of compromising situations like this one.

Nevertheless, he didn't play along. Whatever Sebastian said, humans could not kill him, and so his threats were non-existent in Ciel's eyes. He glared hard at Sebastian's _warm_ _looking_ eyes as if they could burn right through them. Sebastian's smile didn't waver, not for as second as he pressed another sweet kiss to his ear.

Claude coughed in his fist, his tiny smirk still in place. Ciel snapped his head in his direction, glaring at him now.

"Oh, and here I thought you were a ladies' man. Well, at least you weren't into underage children," he said cruelly, his hands finding their ways into his pockets. And Ciel's eyes narrowed, ready to declare he was not a child, but a squeak interrupted him.

"Oh-my-_fucking_-god," Alois began, pronouncing every word slowly, running to Ciel and taking his hand in his slightly larger. "I would never, ever take you as a guy to be into this shit!" He declared rather loudly, tracing the red marks handcuffs left. "You know, I'm proud of you Ciel! You don't even have any underwear at the moment, do you?"

"So we did interrupt you two…? Michaelis, I even told you I would be coming." Claude concluded in slightly disappointed tone (faked, of course), motioning at the two and quite obviously staring at the Ciel's lower part of his body, trying to deduce if Ciel was wearing underwear or not.

And that made Ciel positively furious. He slapped Alois' hand with a hiss and turned around to face the one who started this whole mess, namely Sebastian Michaelis. But the human was quicker in his response, unfortunately, leaving Ciel gaping.

"I would appreciate if we stopped discussing Ciel's and my private life for now and get comfortable in the living room." Sebastian stood erect and put a hand around Ciel's waist, continuing. "Though I would suggest you to put something on, Ciel, I'm afraid that with how…your clothes aren't _useable_ anymore, that's not an option. I will bring you a blanket; feel free to join Claude and Alois." Sebastian finished with a smirk, and Ciel got out of his hold, slapping his hand away. Oh, no, those two freaks would get completely the wrong idea! This savage did not rip his clothes, no; they _were burnt_ because the said savage saw it fit! Well that did it!

"You- You are bastard, Sebastian! Don't listen to him alright!" Ciel jumped in front of Sebastian, shouting desperately, in a desperate need to be understood. His cheeks, ears and even neck were pink, with mixed embarrassment and anger towards his kidnapper. His outburst only produced a chuckle from Alois and a smirk from Sebastian, though.

"Feisty as always, Ciel?" Alois said wickedly grinning. "No need for this, really. If you think us catching you during your little BDSM show was embarrassing, you should see me and Claude going at it! Just yesterday, we were in cinema, but the movie became boring, and you know, Claude always carries a-" He was interrupted when Claude decided it was about time to take up on Sebastian's offer and drag Alois to the living room, next door on the right side of hallway. Ciel sighed in relief, glad the attention wasn't on him anymore, and was about to follow, but when he turned around, he saw Sebastian was already going to his room to find a blanket, so he entered the room behind him, deciding this was the right moment to talk.

"_Sebastian_-"

"Get out, I told you to go with them," Sebastian stated, his tone icily cold, while he didn't even bother to turn around to face Ciel. Amusement was obviously gone from his voice, and Ciel suddenly felt like a true child who did something very wrong, angering mother and father. Which was absurd, seeing how he felt superior even to his _poor_ parents.

"Tsk, firstly, what the hell was that '_boyfriend'_ thing? I'm definitely not playing along; you should know that much by now!" Ciel growled in a whisper, hoping that the creepy couple wouldn't hear him. More so Alois than Claude, since he was pretty sure Claude couldn't hear anything with two closed doors and hallway separating them.

"I said _get out_. We'll talk later," Sebastian said, folding blanket and finally turning around. His eyes were void of any emotion but anger, and as predicted, not even amusement was present. It was strange to see that face, and Ciel had to admit, he felt a tad guilty for not listening to him. If he did, that '_boyfriend thing_', as he named it, surely wouldn't have existed in the first place.

He huffed out and stomped out of room, his chin high. He paid attention where Alois and Claude entered, so he did as well, finding himself in the room where he saw Sebastian for the first time. More precisely, where Sebastian had caught him. He sat down on the chair next to Alois'. Obviously Claude and Alois were discussing something before he entered, so now there was an awkward silence between the three. Until Alois became his old curious self, of course.

"Sooo, how long have you two been '_boyfriends'_?" He asked rather cheerfully, saying the last word mockingly and leaning fully on him. So, was Ciel supposed to play along? He would probably get some explanations afterwards if he did.

And following that logic, he couldn't make up any other believable lie, because then it wouldn't make sense why Sebastian lied to them in the first place. Telling the truth wasn't an option either. That would alarm other humans, and while there wasn't any rule that prohibited letting humans know he was a reaper, that would probably make things more difficult for him. That's how myths about grim reapers were created in the first place. Death gods that told humans about their existence were usually executed secretly. There was no solid proof of this, but what was certain was those death gods disappeared. Because grim reaper's job must be done _discreetly_ and _silently_.

He could always tell Alois the truth (alright not complete _truth_, he'd have to leave out the part he was _caught_) when this mission was over, while Sebastian and Claude…one of them would surely be dead, while Ciel would see to killing the other one with his own hands so the rumours couldn't spread.

"Not too long," he replied, pushing Alois away and propping his chin on his hand. His eyes met Claude's and the human licked his lips, openly showing his attraction to the boy. It was utterly creepy, seeing how his expression stayed completely emotionless. Ciel shuddered and turned to face Alois who already began talking.

"Oh? And you're already getting handcuffed to his bed? Really, Ciel, you never cease to amaze me. And? How is he in the bed? Quite a beast if I had to guess." Alois' question was met with silence as Ciel yawned and pushed his new glasses up, giving an impression of rather bored child.

"Aww, come on, if you are that shy I can always tell you about my experiences with Claude first! And then you must promise me to tell me yours!" Ciel didn't bother to reply to that either, instead focusing on not meeting anybody's eyes in the room and they landed on a clock above the TV set in the corner of the room. It was ten to eight in the evening, meaning he had spent the whole day chained to the bed. He wouldn't know, though, he had fallen asleep easily, after his failed attempt to read Shakespeare.

"Pretty please?" Since Ciel stayed silent, Alois probably started recalling their earlier conversation, since he had an uncharacteristic thoughtful look. A few minutes passed and Ciel absolutely hated the grin that took over his face in realization.

"Wait, wait, wait! You two are **dating**, right?"

Ciel hesitated in answering, not sure where this was going. Alois would probably try to get some information out of him, however Ciel couldn't even fathom which piece of information could it be. He settled for a safe answer, knowing that damn Sebastian would approve of it. "Yes…?"

"So you two are _in_ because of _emotions_ you feel, not just fucking each other like Claude and I?" Ciel choked on his spit upon hearing the question. What in the name of God was he supposed to say? He knew nothing of Sebastian's personality; therefore he didn't know if he was one to commit to only one person. Claude and maybe Alois knew Sebastian way better than he did, so it didn't leave much room for improvising. Besides, this was the first time he heard about the nature of Alois' relationship with Claude. Maybe he was supposed to expect that, but, still, it surprised him. Why would one grim reaper be interested in a human in such a way? That was…weird to say at least.

Now, however, he needed to give Alois a decent response, didn't he? Damn him, what was going on in his mind to even think he could play along correctly? He tore his gaze from Alois and turned to look at Claude, hoping for some hint for how to reply. Claude looked quite interested in conversation, his eyes never leaving Ciel's and then Ciel just closed his to breathe in.

"I-"

"Oh, there you are. I am glad to see you enjoying yourself." Sebastian entered the living room, smiling sweetly and walking over to Ciel. He kissed the top of the boy's head and covered Ciel up with the blanket he was carrying. The said boy blushed again, and Sebastian nodded, seemingly pleased before going to fetch the dinner he made from the kitchen.

"Uh, I think that answered my question, Ciel," Alois said smugly and leaned over to the navy haired boy. He was about to say something before his eyes widened and he leaned back in his chair.

"Since when…do you wear new glasses?" Alois managed to say, obviously shocked and reached over to touch the glasses in question. Well, it wasn't like death gods just appeared with new glasses, so it was reasonable why Alois was acting so surprised, however to any _human_ changing glasses was pretty usual. So, it was normal for Claude to furrow his brows wondering what was his _fuck buddy_ on about. Ciel shrugged, hoping Alois would get a hint, and he did, actually.

"My diopter changed, so I kinda had to change frames and everything." Well, he hoped that counted as a nonchalant reply for humans, since it sounded like nonsense and simply dumb to his own ears. Judging by Claude's a bit more relaxed expression, he succeeded. Mostly. Since Claude leaned back in his chair and called Sebastian.

"So, Michaelis…how long were you trying to convince all of us you were single?"

"Claude, I remember saying what Ciel and I do in our private lives, and even more important, _inside our_ _bedroom_ is none of your business," Sebastian's irritated voice could be heard from kitchen along with footsteps that slowly neared the three beings sitting in the living room. Alois looked at Ciel, who could only massage his temple.

"Besides, how are you two doing?" Sebastian entered the room smiling brightly with a silver tray in his hands. Just a complete opposite of how he was merely seconds ago. Perhaps it was Sebastian's inviting demeanour, but Alois felt inclined to answer this not-at-all sincere question for both himself and Claude. Ciel sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing that Alois would, unfortunately, have different interpretation of this question than originally intended.

"Oh you _finally_ asked! We're doing great, especially inside the bedroom! Or anywhere else where sex is included! Well, to tell the truth, most often it's **out** of the bedroom, since I think that's really over-rated, and luckily, Claude agrees-"

"That's nice to hear, Alois, but I wasn't referring to your sexual life, but your lives overall." Sebastian smiled again, putting four plates on the coffee table from the tray carefully, making sure nobody had their meals spilled on their pants. Ciel eyed the meal he was presented. It was curry, very attractive to the eye and smell that could make any mouth water, however, Ciel held dislike for spicy food. He was not looking forward to the meal. Though he didn't eat at all since he left his dorm, which was around four am, to be sure he would get there before Sebastian woke up, so he supposed he was a tad hungry after all and he would eat.

"Well other aspects of our lives aren't nearly as exciting, but if-" Alois picked up a spoon, ready to dig into curry, almost absently answering when his partner interrupted him.

"Really, Michaelis? _Chicken curry_? You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? Why am I not surprised?" Claude shook his head in disbelief, sighing. Two grim reapers looked at the humans confused, not exactly following. However, Ciel quickly understood. Sebastian worked in international restaurant, didn't he? Curry was probably something he made often (possibly the only thing he could make). The mahogany-eyed human smirked and continued standing.

"This is a curry soft boiled with spices and onions. It is seasoned with coriander and yogurt. This time, there is not touch of Chinese cuisine, and I must say, the results please me immensely."

Claude mostly expressed his irritation with sound that was close to growl, yet not audible to the more distant and younger looking occupants of the room. Sebastian sat down next to the irritated human and across the irritated death god, looking quite satisfied. Alois nodded, only interested in the delicious looking curry and voiced his want.

"Let's eat, I'm starving!"

The pair of mortals and immortals ate in silence, until Alois, at some point, grunted. Sebastian and Ciel both turned to his general direction immediately. They didn't know what they expected to see, but definitely it wasn't Alois smirking with light pink colour tinting his cheeks and hand under the table. He smiled at the two and batted his eyelashes.

"Pardon me..."

"Claude," Sebastian growled in warning, turning to face his stoic rival, understanding what was going on. Said human only shrugged, breaking eye contact and looking back at curry he barely started eating. Ciel watched the scene curiously, well, that was, until he understood what was going on under the table. A tiny blush appeared on his face, and it seemed only Alois took notice of that.

"His advances were getting annoying. I needed to do something in order to make him stop," Claude replied, glaring at Sebastian over his glasses.

"This was more than enough, Claude, Alois. When I said it was all right for you to come over, I didn't mean to bring your damn sex obsession with you. That's disgusting." Sebastian was more than pissed off, no matter how calm he looked or sounded; he was never one to curse. The only other human made a sound that could be interpreted as both of agreement and disagreement.

Silence enveloped the room again. Ciel was quite surprised, to say at least. He remembered how Sebastian and Claude interacted from that first unfortunate encounter, and still remembered mention of '_Lau'_ before they were silenced. What was _really_ going on?

The sun had set a long time ago, it was winter and days were too short. Ciel preferred night anyway. It started snowing again, and maybe, just maybe, it made Ciel a bit uncomfortable. He held a certain dislike for winters. Lesser than for summer, though, but still dislike. His birthday was in winter. Actually, he accepted this mission to save himself from 'the party', among the other reasons. His parents, not having enough time to consider his wishes thanks to their work, would usually call over a bunch of immature kids his age, because they are children of their co-workers, whatever. Therefore, this birthday was his best, because he spent it in office, filling in paperwork, so he would be able to watch over the human.

He put spoon aside, and took a napkin standing up.

"It was…" Truth to be told, he was never one for giving compliments. If the situation were any different, he'd say 'passable' or something that wouldn't exactly make the cook feel accomplished or anything. Nevertheless, he was a guest here. Among foolish humans. Who would be offended, had he said that? "…_delicious_." At least there was that cruel hesitation, which should make Sebastian doubt his cooking skills and unspoken _'I ate better'_ hung in the air.

"My, Ciel is right," Alois injected, failing to notice the said pause, or simply trying to piss Ciel off, which is more likely (and possibly working). "This is delicious, perhaps one of the most delightful meals I've ever eaten! Better than Claude's, I'd say. " Sebastian chuckled, obviously feeling rather triumphant because of the compliment. Claude stayed silent and raised a skeptic eyebrow.

"Sorry, you know I'm just kidding, baby!" Alois winked and reached over to grab Claude's hand, only to be ignored. "Hey, don't sulk like a kid, it doesn't suit your masculine look!"

"Anyhow," Sebastian cleared his throat. "Ciel, Alois, I'd ask you to find something to do if you're finished, I'd like to talk with Claude alone. I'll call you when dessert is ready, alright?" He asked and cocked his head smiling brightly as Alois stood up. There it was again; he was treating Ciel as a child. Good thing he didn't tell them to go and _play_, and he was so certain that _that thought_ went through arrogant bastard's head already.

"Great! Ciel and I also have a lot to catch up on! We didn't see each other for a while now!" Alois grabbed Ciel's hand and dragged him out of room before hearing a reply. It was questionable if there even was one, of course. Alois climbed upstairs (with Ciel behind him trying to keep up with a taller grim reaper) and seemingly searched for something, rushing through the hallway.

"Ah, there it is!"

Alois grabbed the doorknob and opened the door throwing Ciel inside with so much force he actually bumped into the desk that was positioned at the center of room.

"Ouch…" Ciel rubbed his aching hip and glared at blond who closed the door and entered the room completely. Turning around he realized he was in the library, probably the one Sebastian mentioned earlier. It was indeed large; many rows of bookshelves were there, making it look rather ancient and somehow rather familiar to him, thanks to that. But a fuming Alois entered his vision and he collected himself.

"Trancy. I believe you owe me some explanations," he narrowed his eyes and sat on the desk crossing his arms on his chest.

"Oh? So do you. Where are your glasses? And what is it with your eye? Why the hell did you approach your fucking target? You better talk, Ciel, or else…" Alois threatened, putting one hand on his hip, tilting head upwards, and lowering his glare on the enraged blue-eyed boy.

"Or else? I don't really think any of that is your business! While I think how you know _our_ target personally _is_ my bloody business, so spit it out!" Ciel shouted, his hands no longer on his chest, but next to his thighs, clenching the edge of the desk trying to contain an urge to grab Alois' collar to emphasize his words.

"Ah, are you maybe…jealous? Of me, knowing your lover far better than you? Are you?"

"Shut up! Don't just assume things, you can send your poor little brain into overdrive!" A sigh followed, as Ciel reminded himself he needed to be calm in order to get something out of the other. "Trancy, look. I just want to know how you met Sebastian and Claude. No need to argue, I just need to finish _our_ mission and I think you may have the information that would speed up the process." He gestured tiredly before crossing his arms on his chest again. Alois' expression became thoughtful for a second before he quickly replied.

"Well, we could exchange information then. I'll tell you if you tell me what happened to your glasses and your eye."

"Nuh-uh, one piece of information for other."

"Ugh, whatever. What's up with your eye?"

"I was born with it. "

"Whaaat? Only that?"

"Yes. However, it must stay between _two of us_. Now, how did you meet Sebastian?" Ciel questioned, leaning back as Alois sat next to him smirking widely.

"That's an interesting story actually. You know how I have this weird fascination of human race? Sooo, I was literally everyday there, on streets, having fun. And I was wondering how many people would actually pick up such a defenseless little creature like me for a good fuck. Like, oh my god, you'd flip out if you knew the number! " Ciel only glared in warning not to go into details. "Long story short, Claude fell victim to my charms, so he actually let me live with him. I had to be introduced to Lau, though, as a precaution, as-"

"Who is that _Lau_?" Ciel interrupted, hearing the familiar name. Alois' smirk disappeared and turned into confused expression.

"You don't know?"

"Obviously. I wouldn't ask otherwise, would I?" Alois rolled his eyes and hopped off the desk.

"That was a rhetorical question and you know it! I hate that smartass attitude of yours!" Alois brought his hand to chin and thought a bit. "Besides…you said so yourself; one piece of information for other~! If you wanna know, _you_ tell _me_ what happened to your glasses!"

Ciel sat in silence. He didn't know whether it was a good idea to tell Alois the whole truth. Not the part when he was caught, as he said earlier, that wasn't something he was proud of, but the fact Sebastian and he weren't…in relationship. He wanted to deny it, yes, but then Alois would know he was caught and imprisoned. Alois did show he wasn't as stupid and oblivious as he let on.

"Is there something else you want to know?"

"Not at the moment~! Shall I continue then?" Ciel hummed in agreement and Alois sat next to him, ready to finish his story.

"As I was saying, Claude took me in for unknown reasons. That was about six or seven months ago. I met Sebby when he called Claude over, immediately after Claude picked me up, and we chatted and all." A silence ensued.

"Wait, that's it?!"

"More or less. I disappeared for few days, during which I was in Dispatch Society, helping with fucking paperwork. Moreover, Claude actually _accused_ Sebastian he was involved with my sudden disappearance! Can you believe it? It seems that bastard hates me, if even Claude noticed! I mean, like…yeah…" Alois awkwardly finished, rubbing the back of his neck and looking back at Ciel.

"So you recognized Sebastian from photo on his file, yet you said nothing?"

"I did…yeah. But what was I supposed to say? To tell Will and Grell that I lived with Sebastian's _rival_? What do you think, how would they react? Hell yeah, suspend me! Or even worse, expel me!" Alois jumped off the desk again to lean against the bookshelf across the desk, so he could glare at Ciel.

Ciel refused to answer, just because he knew how awkward it felt when your statement was met with silence. Blond reaper became furious, and stomped out of room, but not before he spared one last glance to Ciel. As the sound of the slamming door echoed the library, Ciel exhaled. It surely was hard to deal with the blond full of himself, but he kind of hoped that information he got could be useful. Not that the uselessness of given information was not expected, but…he had _hoped_.

That Lau guy, who was he? Was he actually connected to Sebastian owning the gun, suspecting he was a spy, or anything at all? In addition, Alois also mentioned something about Claude being Sebastian's _rival_…what was that? Ciel slipped off the desk and decided he could take a tour of library, since he had a feeling he would spend much time there from now on. Books looked quite old, and he could recognize only of a few titles. He took out one randomly, and skipped through it. He wasn't focused at all, his mind just drifted. He put the book back and continued his journey through the library. It was really bigger than Sebastian's bedroom, and when he got on the opposite end, he saw a desk, fairly similar to the one he was sitting on few minutes ago. On the desk was a computer. He actually had never in his life used a computer. Grim reapers held no use for one; everything they did, they did by themselves. Trusting another machine could turn messy were it for a simple failure to happen, and death gods were not known for making mistakes.

"Ciel!"

Sebastian called him from a room below. He was supposed to go downstairs to have dessert with guests, right? It was quite inconsiderate of Sebastian to leave him on his own, knowing he could try to escape. So, maybe he could use his chance and earn his freedom again? He ran to the closest window, but was gravely disappointed when he tried to open it. He moved to the next one, but he couldn't open that one either. He tried to open every window in library, but the outcome was always the same. Tch, it was ridiculous to even think Sebastian would be that careless!

"Ciel, sweetheart, it's time for dessert~! C'mon now, I know how much you love your sweets!" Alois chirped, quite sour from their conversation. Clenching his jaw, Ciel went to the door and down the stairs. He ran his fingers through his fringe, making sure they covered his grim reaper's eye.

"I'm coming," he said coldly and entered the room where Sebastian was bringing a knife, ready to cut a first slice of the cake resting on the table about him.

"Oh, there you are, Ciel," Sebastian noticed him standing in the doorway, not exactly sure whether to enter the room or not and he motioned him to enter with a large smile. "Come, please sit."

He sliced the first piece elegantly and handed it to Ciel.

"This is Charlotte Cake, filled with fruit purée. As you can see, it's warmed, and it could be lovely warm treat during cold winter days as this one," he explained, and continued to slice pieces for both Claude and Alois.

Ciel suspiciously eyed the piece of cake that now innocently rested on his plate. He nudged it with fork, so it fell on its side, easing his tries to see what exactly it was filled with (ignoring Sebastian's polite explanation.) He could recognize strawberries, and whipped cream and, oh god, it seemed impossibly delicious! In all honesty, Ciel had a weak spot for sweets. He was extremely picky about them, true, but if they were up to his standards, he could live on them. It seemed very childish, so he tried to keep that fact about himself hidden, but unfortunately, there were people who did dig out that information about him (Alois). He sliced a small piece with his fork very gentleman-like and brought it to his mouth, carefully taking it in.

It was three times tastier than it looked like. Dare he say it was the best cake he ever had in his very long life (long by humans' standards)? Regrettably, metaphorical fireworks in his stomach caused by his taste buds came to an abrupt stop when he heard a disgusting voice.

"_Darling_, does it satisfy your sweet tooth?" Alois said in the sweetest voice he could make. Ciel snapped his eyes open, and glared at the blond, only to realize both Sebastian and Claude were staring at him rather intently. Oh goodness. What was he thinking, getting carried away so easily by eating a mere _cake_? Not just any cake, he justified, but the best cake he ever ate…

He just glared at the three, letting them know what exactly he thought of their stares and continued eating ignoring them completely. But the warmth on his cheeks stayed even after they returned to their mindless and not so friendly chatter.

* * *

"It was nice to talk with you two, I must confess. Maybe we should repeat this in the near future?"

_Or not._

Sebastian and Ciel were standing in the doorway, seeing their _precious guests_ out. It was already about ten in the evening and staying any longer would seem rather inappropriate, or so Sebastian said. It seemed, as he was an expert for kicking guests out in polite manner. He had to be, if Alois was speaking truthfully about how often these little 'gatherings' were.

"Of course! As always Sebby!" Alois was clinging on Claude's arm, reluctant to leave, unlike Claude who was in far worse mood than he was in when he came. Of course, Sebastian seemed to feel accomplished, making obvious that it was their _adult_ conversation that upset Claude. No wonder, even Ciel had to admit that Claude was a rather annoying individual. He was emotionless, amused or irritated. Not that you could see difference between the first and the last, anyway.

Sebastian's arm was around Ciel's waist, pressing their bodies together. To prevent Ciel from running away, naturally. Luckily, this also provided extra heat for him, seeing how he was in nothing but too big shirt and a blanket around his whole body and tonight was a particularly cold night. It was still snowing, and the weather changed often these few days he spent watching over the human.

"Well then, Michaelis. Until tomorrow, I suppose." Claude nodded politely, and so did Sebastian in return, letting the couple go home.

Sebastian breathed out one huge sigh of relief, but didn't let go of Ciel's waist until they were inside and the doors were closed. He turned around to face the child, with raise of his eyebrows.

"So, Ciel. I believe we have to talk. In the living room, if you will," he suggested, not as angry as he was earlier, motioning for Ciel to go ahead, in front of him. Well, said grim reaper would lie if he said he didn't expect some kind of interrogation from Sebastian that night. Luckily, he had a fair share of sleep earlier, so staying up a bit more wouldn't make any difference to him. This was a hard day for both of them and he could bet Sebastian wanted nothing more but to jump under the covers and fall asleep.

Ciel entered warm room and sat on the couch, making sure all of him was covered and snuggled further into pleasant warmth. Sebastian nodded when he saw where Ciel positioned himself and walked over to kitchen. The death god closed his eyes when he heard footsteps inches away from him. Judging solely by the sounds that could be heard from the kitchen, Ciel would say Sebastian was putting water to boil, most likely brewing tea.

He opened his eyes as the footsteps approached again, just to be on guard. Who knows what Sebastian could pull out of his sleeve this time? The human seated himself on the couch as well, sitting so he could rest his elbows on armrests and face Ciel, and he crossed one leg over other. Ciel, in return, raised both of his legs on the couch, away from cold floor. Sebastian gazed at the other's eyes, daring him to start talking, probably so he could over-analyse everything he said and draw some conclusions. However, Ciel was never the one to turn down the challenge.

"…What was that 'boyfriend' thing? I mean, first of all, how did they believe you? Aren't you about…twice as old as I am? Isn't that illegal?" Ciel gave his best not to cringe at talking with Sebastian like _he_ was the older one, when Ciel was literally centuries older than him. Moreover, according to Alois' story, having such young sexual partner wasn't quite normal and highly risky.

"As you have seen, Claude couldn't have judged me; Alois is about your age. Besides, what other explanation could I have offered as to why were you dressed in nothing but my shirt, in my bedroom?" Sebastian leaned back, putting more pressure on his elbows.

"For one, you could have said I'm just some kid you took in."

"Ha, they wouldn't believe it for a moment. I would never take anybody in, that's not a part of my personality. Further, you must learn that believable lies are those ones that hold a tiny piece of _truth_ in them. "

"What was that supposed to mean?!" Ciel demanded embarrassed, and Sebastian just chuckled and winked, before putting a lock of his hair behind his ear.

"And, pray tell, how would you explain that red mark caused by handcuffs?" Ciel blushed again and attempted to hide his blush with his fringe, glaring at Sebastian from the corner of his eye, who smirked and shrugged nonchalantly.

"I think they knew I have nothing against _bondage_ anyway, so it seemed plausible."

"Well, Alois knows I would never let anybody do something like that to me!"

Oh, no, no, no, no, that was an accident! He didn't want this topic to be brought up, but he brought it himself. Or did he? Damn, damn, damn that sick liar and manipulator and incompetent idiot-

"Oh? He seems to know you rather well, right? How do you know each other?" Ciel's glare hardened, his fists clenched at the question he expected. It was certain that Sebastian read his body language as an open book, so if he somehow managed to play it off as nothing important…perhaps it was too late for that, but he could at least try.

"That's rather complicated story I'd rather not tell. Long story short, he was my…childhood friend, to say, our families were pretty close and all, but I personally had always found his personality highly disagreeable, I'd say. We parted ways some time ago and it was rather unfortunate we met today. I had no idea he had…that kind of relations at the moment, much less with an adult man," Ciel finished, not once looking away from the mahogany orbs, which seemed to search him for signs of dishonesty. Sebastian ran hand through his hair yawning.

"Rather unfortunate, I couldn't agree more. So, Ciel, how do you like my home?"

"When Trancy and his 'partner' aren't here, I must admit I find it quite comfortable." Ciel's reply was equally sophisticated as the question, and attitudes of both beings were completely aristocratic. The younger looking smug at the notice, and Sebastian obviously caught on what was he thinking about because he returned the look with one of his own.

"Those are quite contradictive words to come from somebody who was complaining because, _apparently_, I treated them as a hostage."

"Tsk, whatever you say." Sebastian chuckled again before standing up, stretching, and walking to the kitchen, leaving Ciel alone to his thoughts. Well, not exactly alone, as he felt something crawling around his legs, and tucking itself between Ciel's lower back and backrest, obviously seeking warmth. He jumped on reflex, only to see black kitten he saw the first time he visited the manor. It was really small and young, with blue eyes, as every youngling had. It mewed curiously and approached Ciel, not afraid of people.

"Oh, I see he found you. Curious little thing, he is." Sebastian was bringing them both mugs with tea.

"Curiosity killed the cat, they say," Ciel mumbled under his breath, trying to get away from the creature that was nuzzling his thigh. Sebastian purposely took no notice of the hateful remark.

"Here you are. Drink this to get warm, and then finally, we can get some sleep." Ciel took a mug in his hands, the familiar smell coming from it.

"Ceylon Tea?" He guessed.

"Why, yes it is." Sebastian replied as he took the black kitten in his hand, seating himself where Ciel was sitting earlier. "You know, he has a twin. I actually wonder where she is, she is a real devil, if I say so myself. So be careful around her." His warning was met with silence, so he didn't bother trying to initiate the conversation. As he took small sips of hot tea, Ciel remembered something.

"Wait, what am I going to wear? You're surely not expecting me to wear only your shirt during the winter?"

"Well, tomorrow I'll go to the mall and buy you sets of clothes, so we can go together there after I come back and you can choose then."

"…Why would we go together?" Ciel asked, sincerely confused. Sebastian was supposed to be cruel, not to waste his money on his clothes. Something was going on.

"You will need more than one set of clothes, you know, and you can choose your _style_ or _whatever_."

"My _style_?" The boy teased lightly

"Something you'd normally wear. Do I really need to define the meaning of the word style now?" Sebastian frowned as he put away the mug.

"Not really. Do you now see me as a fifteen-year-old girl to have my own wardrobe, make up and all?" Ciel said as he fought off the yawn, making Sebastian chuckle and shake his head.

"Come, let us go to bed." Sebastian motioned him to follow him as he stood up. They walked to the room Ciel spent his whole day yesterday. Sebastian took out the key from his pocket and unlocked it. _Why was it locked?_

"This is my room," Sebastian announced proudly as he stepped in, gesturing towards the bed, as if he didn't handcuff the boy there earlier that very day.

"I got that much. Why are we here?" Ciel raised an eyebrow suspiciously, also stepping inside the room, letting Sebastian lock it again.

"We will sleep here, obviously." The human was more than happy to reply and sat on the bed, observing boy's movements.

"I will sleep on the floor, I presume?" Ciel stood next to Sebastian, looking down at him.

"Of course not, you'll sleep with me in the bed. I'm afraid I'll need to handcuff you again, and because of that, I shall be nearby if you need to go to bathroom or something similar." Sebastian said as he stretched and took out cuffs from under the pillow and locked them around Ciel's wrist and bedpost. Ciel lay in the bed and tried out if he could lay without being uncomfortable with his restraints.

"I'll go shower, if you don't mind, Ciel. You can take shower in the morning." And he didn't mind. He was too tired to mind. Even if he also wanted to shower. So he just lay down, and slowly drifted to sleep. He didn't even notice when the bed dripped and another body joined him under covers.

"Ciel?"

Ciel cracked his eyes open and turned to face Sebastian, who was lying on his side propped on one hand.

"I'll let you sleep in tomorrow morning, because I need to go early to work. I will remove your handcuffs and lock the room, but you can use my bathroom in this room. I will also leave you something to eat, but you'll have to wait for me for lunch. I apologize for not managing to make you lunch today, however I needed to get everything ready for our guests," Sebastian finished and waited patiently for the response.

"Ugh, whatever!" Ciel snapped, fully awake now and turned around, letting his head fall back on the comfy pillow. Sebastian let out a breathy chuckle and hugged Ciel's waist, burying his nose in Ciel's hair.

"What do you. Think. You're. Doing." Ciel growled, accenting every word, clenching his jaw. Before Sebastian managed to reply, Ciel continued.

"Are you continuing that charade? I can't believe I played along, letting them believe I'm your boyfriend! I don't even-! You know what, just leave me alone, you bastard!" Ciel slapped Sebastian's hand away and moved towards edge of the bed, away from Sebastian.

"Ah, but I wouldn't need to cover for you, have you just _listened_ to me," Sebastian replied, finally losing his patience and Ciel heard shuffling of the blanket, and felt the body heat of the other leaving him, as Sebastian turned away from Ciel.

"Believe me, I can make your stay here much more troublesome, Ciel. It's just matter of your behaviour." With that last warning, he let both of them rest in silence. Minutes passed, leaving Ciel to his own thoughts. This time, he didn't even try to speculate who was Lau, or who was really Sebastian, but now he was trying to understand meaning of Sebastian's words.

"_You must learn that believable lies are those ones that hold a tiny piece of truth in them."_

What was that '_tiny piece of truth'_?

* * *

_**A/N:** There we are, finally moving! Thank you all who read this, you are all so awesome, just so you know! _

_Who'd think Sebastian isn't just a handsome cook with gun in his cupboard and handcuffs under his pillow, but also an intelligent manipulator? Like a Mary-Sue or whatever. But all humans have their flaws, right? Let us see it in the next chapter!_

_And thank you for waiting a whole month to read this chapter, but as promised, I'm back in July! And ready to have some fun writing! _

_As I said you're all so awesome, you have a potential to become the most awesome people on Earth...I think a **review** could help it. Yep, yep, I'm sure it will help! It's your choice whether you review or not, really. But more awesome things happen in fanfics when a writer is high on reviews. Consider it, please. Until then._

**_Kitten Rebel._**


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